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Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill

I find it hard to disagree with new clauses 7 and 8, but they are slightly meaningless. That is not because the hon. Member for Tewkesbury(Mr. Robertson) lacks meaning—he has made a profound and ongoing contribution to the peace process—but because, to put it bluntly, Britain’s prisons are full of people who are innocent and who are willing to pledge to tell the truth and to uphold the rule of law. When I consider the recent history of Northern Ireland, I am not sure what we would achieve by including that additional pledge. If we listen to the testimony from various individuals in Northern Ireland, nobody robbed the Northern bank. Even if by some miracle the hon. Member for Tewkesbury succeeds, against all previous evidence, in convincing the Minister to listen, to be persuaded, to do some joined-up government and to accept the new clause, I still suspect that individuals may occasionally be economical with the truth.